Bodybuilding Cutting Diet

Preparing for a bodybuilding competition requires hard work, dedication and discipline. Once sufficient muscle mass is gained, the bodybuilder then goes on a bodybuilding cutting diet to shed excess body fat and emphasize muscle mass. Cardiovascular exercise is also added to aid fat loss.

To lose one pound a week, a deficit of 3500 calories is needed. This translates to 500 calories a day. It is recommended that 80% of your caloric deficient come from cutting calories, and 20% from cardiovascular exercise. If 80% of this deficit should come from cutting, that translates to 400 calories from dieting, and 100 calories from cardio.

When beginning a bodybuilding cutting diet, it is important to determine the amount of calories that are needed to adequately fuel the muscles during a workout yet also induce fat burning.

First, determine your baseline calorie intake. This is how many calories a day your body needs to maintain its weight with your current exercise plan. This can be done by recording how many calories you consume each day for a week, then adding them together and dividing by 7 to get your average daily baseline calorie intake.

It is also possible to use the standard of 15x your bodyweight in pounds. So for a 185 pound male bodybuilder, the daily maintenance calories required is 2775 calories. For a 130 pound female bodybuilder, the daily maintenance calories required is 1950 calories.

Take the baseline calorie intake and subtract 500. This is how many calories need to be cut daily to lose one pound a week. If your baseline calorie intake is 2775, your new calorie goal is 2275. This translates into a new calorie intake of 2375 and you need to burn 100 calories a day from cardio exercise.

For a bodybuilding cutting diet, the recommended ratio of macronutrients is 40/35/25, which is 40% carbohydrates, 35% protein, and 25% fat.

So if your calorie intake is now 2375 per day, then your diet should consist of 237.5g carbohydrates, 207g protein, and 66g fat.

Whole, unprocessed foods should be consumed as much as possible. Stay away from so-called “diet” foods as they usually have more refined sugars and are devoid of nutrients. Acceptable foods to consume on a bodybuilding cutting diet are lean beef, chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, low fat dairy, tuna, egg whites, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat bread, green vegetables, peanut butter, flaxseed oil, olive oil, and nuts. Spices and seasonings are encouraged to enhance taste, but avoid excessive salt as it leads to water retention.